1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image processing systems and techniques. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems and techniques for acquiring and displaying video image data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many works of science fiction and science fantasy show someone speaking with a remote user via images of the remote user seemingly projected in free space. Despite the frequent appearance of these images over decades of film and television production, no real practical system has been developed to date that is capable of capturing and extracting a user's image from an arbitrary (non-monochromatic) background, transmitting the image over a communication channel and displaying the image in free space.
A display of live image data projected into free space offers the potential for a significantly enhanced communication experience. Hence, there is a need in the art for a system or method for acquiring and extracting video images from arbitrary backgrounds and displaying the images in free space or in a volumetric space.